Fair and Just Courts

The White House will host a breakfast tomorrow for President Bush's nominees who have not been confirmed by the Senate. The group includes extremist nominees to lifetime appointments on the federal courts as well as nominees for other high-ranking, influential positions in federal agencies and commissions that require the advice and consent of the Senate. Many of the nominees are opposed by sitting Senators and by a broad range of watch-dog groups.

In response to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote to advance the nomination of Leslie Southwick to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, People For the American Way President Ralph G. Neas released the following statement:

“We are deeply disappointed that the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee and Senator Feinstein have advanced Leslie Southwick’s nomination to a powerful lifetime seat on the Fifth Circuit. It is incomprehensible that someone with such a disturbing legal record is being pushed toward confirmation.

Senator Edward Kennedy and a bipartisan group of fourteen of his colleagues have introduced the Fair Pay Restoration Act to vastly reduce the damage done by the Supreme Court's recent ruling in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire. The sharply divided, 5-4 ruling left many workers who face persistent pay discrimination based on sex, race, religion or nationality with no legal recourse.

Judicial Nominee Heads for Committee Vote

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote this Thursday on the nomination of former Mississippi Court of Appeals judge Leslie Southwick to a seat on the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Ralph G.

In response to the announced withdrawal of the nominations of William Haynes, William Myers, and Terrence Boyle and the previous withdrawal of Michael Wallace, People For the American Way President Ralph G. Neas released the following statement:

“The withdrawal of these nominees recognizes the political reality on Capitol Hill. Extreme, far-right nominees who are out of step with ordinary Americans simply will not be confirmed in the new Senate.